Emefiele Has Been Charged To Court – DSS

The Department of State Services, DSS has said the embattled former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele has been charged to court.

The Secret Police disclosed this today, July 13, 2023 in a press release signed by the Public Relations Officer, Peter Afunanya .

The press release read:

PRESS RELEASE

DSS HAS CHARGED EMEFIELE TO COURT

Sequel to an Abuja High Court Order of today, 13th July, 2023, the Department of State Services (DSS) hereby confirms that Mr Godwin Emefiele has been charged to court in compliance with the Order.

The public may recall that the Service had, in 2022, applied for a Court Order to detain him in respect of a criminal investigation. Though he obtained a restraining order from an FCT High Court, the Service, however, arrested him in June, 2023, on the strength of suspected fresh criminal infractions/information, one of which forms the basis for his current prosecution.

The Service assures the public of professionalism, justice and fairness in handling this matter and indeed the discharge of its duties within the confines of the law.

Peter Afunanya Ph.D fsi
Public Relations Officer
Department of State Services
National Headquarters
Abuja
13th July, 2023

Recall that Mr. Emefiele was suspended from office with immediate effect by President Bola Tinubu and was arrested by the DSS at his home in Lagos on 9th of June 2023, and was flown to their headquarters in Abuja to face interrogations.

Meanwhile , a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court at Maitama, Abuja, on Thursday, ordered the Department of State Services (DSS) to either file charges against the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, or release him, within one week.

The spy agency has been holding him in custody without charge since then.

Delivering a ruling on Mr Emefiele’s fundamental human rights enforcement suit on Thursday, 34 days since his arrest, the judge, Hamza Muazu, gave the agency the options of either releasing or charging him in court.

He held that the Nigerian constitution is rooted in the rule of law and presupposes that all actions must be done according to the law.

“Detention, no matter how small, can amount to a breach of fundamental rights,” Mr Muazu said.

He noted that since allegations levelled against the suspended CBN governor were ordinarily bailable offences, SSS ought to grant him administrative bail pending his trial.